The greatest unfilled need, according to a chamber news release, came in the skilled trades, such as electricians, plumbers and engineering technicians. Two-thirds of the jobs left open required education beyond high school, such as a certificate, associate degree or bachelor’s degree.

The survey results from 532 companies help demonstrate the workforce skills gap that policymakers, industry leaders and educators have recently been trying to address, the chamber said. Economists predict in the next decade, two-thirds of Indiana’s jobs will require some postsecondary education, but only about one-third of Hoosier adults now hold those kinds of degrees or certificates.

A recent Ball State University study, however, cast a degree of skepticism on those predictions. The study doubted that Indiana faced a shortage of science and tech workers, such as engineers, calling those concerns an “unsubstantiated worry.”

This seventh iteration of the chamber’s annual survey builds upon last year’s findings in which employers overwhelmingly said workers lacked critical skills, including academic skills, job-specific skills or “soft skills,” such as communication, work ethic and professionalism.

“Collectively, we need to do better at connecting the dots regarding the open jobs and the qualifications it takes to land one of them,” chamber President and CEO Kevin Brinegar said in the release.

More than half of the employers surveyed said they offered tuition reimbursement programs for their workers, but most said employees rarely used the programs.

Many of the respondents said businesses should be more involved in reviewing high school and college requirements, with 90 percent wanting to provide input on career and technical education programs. More than half say they are involved with local schools for internship, classroom presentation and job shadowing opportunities.